Cosmology
cosmology We live in a Material Realm, one of many spheres created by the gods in The Phlogiston's Web of Fog that separates the Primordial Chaos of the Plane below from the of the Plane Below from the Astral Seas of the Plane Above. It is known that the gods do not have a presence in the Phlogiston except for the minor blessings that their worshiping brings with them. That that the gods use the celestial spheres as conduits for their power between the Primordial Chaos and the Astral Seas seems sure. That the spheres of the foundations of their heavens and hells or serve as pastors for their worshipers to grow like livestock on are true of some gods at the least. Shallow Ethereal plane, echos the Material realm, venture to near where the echo of the crystal shell should be and one ends up in the Deep Ethereal plane. Material plane Wildspace AS an adventurer moves higher (whether climbing a mountain or on the back of a Roc), the atmosphere becomes thinner and thinner until at last it becomes a vacuum. The climber can still breathe, however, because as he moves upward, an envelope of air clings to him. When he reaches the point where the planet's air is no longer breathable, he is breathing his own air(2d10 turns worth), held near him by his body's own gravity. This air envelope attaches to everything that passes though the atmosphere and allows normal survival in Wildspace, at least for a short time. The Roc flying under it's own power takes an air envelope big enough to last them 71 days(( (128*20)/(32+4) )). Air Guidelines (adjust to be wight based?) Air Envelope is the amount of air in the creature’s envelope if the creature enters wildspace flying under its own power(like the Roc); otherwise, the air in its envelope is the standard Personal Air pocket for its size(the climber). Large creatures and above have a variable envelope depending on their length in feet. The length to be used is the longest measurement of their body. The disadvantage to such envelopes is its small size . The envelope of breathable air that attaches to any body has an all-around depth equal to the cross-sectional diameter of that body. For Example: A spherical beholder 5 feet across has and air envelope 15 feet in diameter. Similarly a block of wood which is 1 foot by 2 feet by 3 feet is surrounded by more-or-less rectangular envelope of air with is 3 feet by 6 feet by 9 feet. Due to the activity of the planets, the spheres, and various pockets of Elemental fire, temperature in wildspace is not a problems for travelers. The ambient temperature in most spheres is about the same as a moderate summer day in a temperate region of a contained world. The reason everything drags its own atmosphere around though space is gravity. This is also the reason why people can a space-sailing ship with falling off its deck and can stand on a spherical planet without falls off its bottom side. Every body in space has its own gravity. Gravity is accommodating force in that its direction seems to be "That which is most convenient." In an object the size of a planet, gravity is directed towards a point at the center of the planet to that people can stand anywhere on the surface and dropped objects fall perpendicular to the surface. in smaller objects, like spacecraft, gravity in not a central point but rather a plane which cuts horizontally through the object significantly, this gravity plane is two-directional; it attracts from both top and bottom. a Sailor can actually stand on the bottom of a ship's hull and move around as easily as if he was walking on deck. One of the stranger side effects of all this is that an object falling off the side of a Astroschooner can oscillate back and forth across the plane of gravity, falling first in one direction until is crosses the plane, then reversing direction and falling back across the plane again, and so on until something causes it to stop. To a person standing on the deck, the object appears to fall down, then up, then down, then up. This trick is commonly used to amuse passengers new to space travel. A carefully-thrown object can actually go into orbit around the ship. Such orbits to not last long; the object quickly collides with the ship's rigging or slows down in the air envelope and crashes into the ship. One of the favorite pranks of experienced Astrosailors in to toss an apple or similar light object off one side of a ship in such a way that it curves around and strikes someone standing at the other rail. Classes of atmosphere operate in the same manner in the Phlogiston as they do in wildspace. However, when the atmosphere goes deadly, a special property of the Phlogiston takes over; instead of dying, the individual lapses into suspended animation until the atmosphere around him is recharged. Living flesh turns gray and stone-like and remains that way until the individual in rescued. When two objects collide the gravity of the object with greater volume takes over. A weightless character who enters the air envelope of a larger body is immediately affected by the pull of gravity of that body, He will, in effect, fall the distance from where he entered to the surface of the body, or to the gravity plane,whichever is nearer. The Phlogiston Outside and between the celestial spheres is a turbulent, rainbow fog of flammable ether called the phlogiston; a multicolor web holding the various systems within their crystal shells. The term phlogiston is applied equally to both the Multicolored medium and to the entire region surrounding the crystal spheres. Phlogiston has a varying thicknesses and forms dense rivers between planet-sized objects1). Voyages moving along these paths of concentrated phlogiston discover that the greater the density of the flow, the faster a ship can move. A ship can speed up and slow down by penetrating deeper into or raising itself out of these phlogiston rivers. further, the speed of the ship is at least partially dependent on the surface area it presents ti the flow, so many ships carry sails to increase their speed on interstellar journeys Ethereal Shallow Ethereal the traveler in the Shallow Ethereal can move through solid matter in the bordering Material realm or Demi-plane without ill effects in most cases. Stone can be breached without creating an opening, and the ethereal traveler can pass through volcano unscathed, provided it is in the bordering plane of existence. The dangers of invisible individual walking though walls via the Shallow Ethereal have not been lost on the powers that live the bordering planes. Three things in the bordering plane hinder movement in the Shallow Ethereal: certain spells that detect and ban the ethereal, dense metals, and living beings. Spells that affect movement and creatures in the Shallow Ethereal including glyph of warding and Mordenkainen's faithful hound, which both detect and attack ethereal creatures. of a more permanent nature is an alchemic mixture containing gorgon's blood that, when mixed with the mortar of a building, prevents ethereal and astral creatures from passing through walls. This last potion usually costs 10,000 g.p. from a reputable alchemist. Dense metals also prevent passage by those is the Shallow Ethereal, so a large collection of gold or plates of lead can be used to ethereal-proof an area. Any metal denser than gold can be used, though thus is often an expensive proposition. Living beings (at least those above the macroscopic level) generate an aura that prevents passage by ethereal beings. Thus a guard outside the door of a room whose walls were built with Gorgon's blood in the mortar prevents ethereal passage. This aura radiates about a foot in all directions, so that it is impossible to pass under or over the living guard in the previous example. Plants also radiate this aura, so a vine-covered cottage is also immune to ethereal visitors. A traveler in the Shallow Ethereal sometimes may be forced to regain his physical form inside an existing object (This usually occurs because the spell or potion has expired.) Liquids, gases and flames part to allow the traveler entrance, but solid objects resist such intrusions. A traveler reappearing inside a solid object must roll a saving throw vs. Death Magic. Failing that save results in the physical destruction of the traveler; success plunges the Traveler into the Deep Ethereal, where he is unconscious for 1d4 true rounds. Several travels reappearing together are sent to different areas of the Deep Ethereal. Those who survive the trauma remain ethereal until they choose to enter another Shallow Ethereal, at which point they become non-ethereal and emerge into the bordering plane they have chosen. The plane adjoining the Shallow Ethereal is visible to the ethereal traveler, bu neither clearly nor to great depth. All colors are reduced to shades of gray, so that dark green and dark blue are identical blacks, while tomato red is gray and bright yellow is white. Furthermore, sight into the plane adjoining the Shallow Ethereal is limited to 12" in daylight, and may be further limited by available light in that plane. Someone with an ethereal light source would not be able to see further into the bordering plane, The light from an ethereal lantern does not reflect off non-ethereal objects and thus it does not illuminate objects in the bordering plane. The traveler may choose to leave the Shallow region of the Ethereal plane for the depths of the Deep Ethereal plane. This may be desirable to escape pursuit or a power foe, or to reach the Primordial Chaos and demi-planes. A traveler desiring to venture deeper into the Ethereal merely wills it so. An individual who witnesses this process see the traveler stepping back into a roiling mist, which then closes in on itself. The traveler in now in the Deep Ethereal, facing a curtain of vaporous color. Deep Ethereal unless flung into the depths the Deep Ethereal(by a vanish spell or trying to enter a Material Realm inside solid mater), a traveler begins his sojourn in the Deep Ethereal at a curtain of vaporous color. These curtains are the boundaries between the Deep Ethereal and the Shallow Ethereal. To continue the ocean analogy, the curtains are the shoals and reefs out in the ocean that warn of landfall ahead. Upon stepping though the curtain, the traveler is in the Shallow Ethereal. The curtains of vaporous color appear as huge hanging sheets that are continuously agitated by the forces between the planes. Lights and pixie fire dance across their surfaces. The traveler can enter a curtain by willing so and can leave it behind by similar act of will. The color of the curtain indicates the type of place the curtain conceals. In the Ethereal plane, physicals objects are converted into their Ethereal equivalents. A living body can then breathe the Ethereal air in a normal fashion. Since Since Ethereality permeates the entire plane and all substances within, A traveler cannot drown in an ethereal lake. The Ethereal body can still be affected by gas attacks, such as stinking cloud and cloudkill, that cast in the Ethereal plane. Metabolic and other natural processes take place 10 times slower in the Deep Ethereal than in the Material Realms. Food supplies that would have lasted with last for 4 days on the Material Realm will last 40 days in the Deep Ethereal. In the Deep Ethereal nothing falls, although there is a sense of up and down. Besides this the only form of direction is toward and away from a certain plane, but after moving out of sight of the Curtain, this too becomes hard to judge. The Ethereal Plane is a thick soup composed of ethereal matter, so that sight is limited as if looking though a dense fog. Clear vision extends to about 1000 yards, with murky shapes beyond to 120 yards. On the Ethereal plane, wither your in the shallows or the depths, feels nether hot nor cold, Always apparently at just the right temperature for the traveler. Movement in the Ethereal is accomplished by wishing to go somewhere. An Ethereal traveler moves as he would unencumbered on his home plane(regardless of his degree of encumbrance). Astral Seas Beyond the spheres of the mortal world lies an expanse of infinite possibility. The Astral Seas are a great silvery void in which countless fragments of divine or mortal purpose drift--dreams, ideas, and wishes, as well as fears and dark desires. All these thoughts and feelings become real and tangible in this place. Most are virtually unnoticeable, of course. An ordinary mortal's passing fancy vanishes in the Astral Seas like a raindrop falling into a mighty ocean. But dreams and dreads with power are a different matter. The desires of Deities or beliefs shared by thousands or mortals take shape as vast kingdoms or even whole worlds within the Astral Seas. These kingdoms and worlds are the Astral Dominions--Realms adrift within the fundamental expanse of the Astral Seas. Some are heavenly realms of peace and splendor. Some are fantastic dreamscapes filled with marvels and strange perils. And some are dark and tormented places, hellish domains filled with unspeakable evil. Gravity in the Astral Seas is a vary subjective thing. Out side of the Astral Dominions a creature can stand on any surface equal to or larger than its base. When not under the effects of gravity a traveler gains the ability to fly at one-half its normal speed. One can hover, but if not a native to flight they make a clumsy flier. Creatures with the ability to fly can use their innate flying speed instead and they gain the ability to hover. The Astral Sea is not a sea, of course. It’s more like a fantastic version of wildspace. It’s filled with vast clouds of a luminous, silver-gray substance that is not mist and not liquid. Thousands of stars glitter in the distance, especially in darker portions of the plane. Vast expanses of “open air” between these drifting clouds provide travelers with hundreds of miles of visibility, and even in the middle of the densest astral mists travelers can see objects several miles away with ease—the stuff of the Astral Sea just doesn’t impede vision much at all. Someone floating in the astral doesn’t get wet or cold. A cool tingle on the skin is the only sensation. Creatures who need to breathe can do so without trouble. Winged creatures can fly through the astral stuff as if it were air, and natural swimmers can swim through it as if it were water. Other creatures can move slowly by desiring to move. Even though the Astral Sea is a three-dimensional void, it possesses a distinct astral horizon that forms something like the surface of an ocean. The mists below this surface are darker and denser, and those above it are brighter and more open. Most creatures and objects slowly orient themselves toward this subtle demarcation without even realizing it, and travel toward their destination along the “surface” of the Astral Sea. Two vessels meeting in the Astral Sea do so on this unseen surface, so that encounters begin in a space that seems more two-dimensional than it is. Similarly, a vessel approaching one of the astral dominions normally does so from the dominion’s equivalent of sea level, or from its equator in the case of dominions that are shaped like worlds. It’s unusual to drop in to a dominion from the zenith or pole of its sky. Psychic Storms Some portions of the Astral Sea are subject to psychic storms—wild, unpredictable gales that darken the luminous clouds and blow travelers off course. Psy- chic storms usually delay travelers—except when they sweep travelers through a color veil before they can react. Psychic storms are very large—like hurricanes or vast sandstorms in the mortal world—but move quickly. Astral Dominions A vast color veil serves as the border surrounding each of the Astral Dominions. The color veil may appear as a glittering mist, a dancing aurora, a gathering gloom, or a brooding fog. Regardless of its exact appearance, venturing into the veil works as a portal and transports the traveler into the dominion the color veil surrounds. Most color veils allow at least some glimpse of the dominion that lies within. For example, an astral traveler can easily descry the shining mountains of Celestia from a distance outside its golden veil. The sullen red-black plains of the first layer of the Nine Hells of Baator are wreathed in fumes and smoke, but the clouds part from time to time, allowing a glimpse of the danger that awaits. However, other veils offer no hint of what lies on the other side. The dazzling blue aurora guarding the borders of Shom never parts, nor does the black fog marking the border of Tytherion. Category:Cosmology Category:Rules